On Being a Junior Developer

And I who entered this business because I liked to deal with computers, rather than humans.

How do I avoid becoming a writer, while still being able to have a job as a software developer?

Thanks for your advice and information - personally, I agree with a lot of the points you've made.

The problem is that at the time I took my job, I didn't have much choice, I was in a shitty position, no job, no money, no home, etc. and I took the fist position which came along.

I wish I had been in a better position and been able to better evaluate my current workplace, but in my bosses defence, I am the first (out of family) employee for this oompany, my boss is new to the world of being a boss too and he is unsure of when and where to show his authority.

As for moving elsewhere, I am currently in the process of applying for other jobs and hoping one of them come through.

I should state that I actually like my boss, he's a good person and is as new to being an employer as I am to being a commercial programmer.

I would like a more professional and tactful environment in my next position but I don't in any way blame my boss for how I feel, in fact I have a lot of respect for him.

Here's a shameless plug for https://www.apprentice.io/ - we offer great (paid!) technical mentorship for 3 months with one of the best Rails firms in the US.

We have locations in SF and Boston.

Good lord, that sounds horrible.

> Making mistakes will kill you

Your place of work is terrible. When there's a bug in my code, it's because I made a mistake, but it's also because A) my code reviewers didn't catch it, and B) the testers didn't catch it. In a decent organization, blame should be spread and the reaction to problems should be systemic.

> Your wage is shitty

Your place of work is terrible. I had more money than I knew what to do with starting out.

> Get used to being the go-to guy for all the boring work

This is somewhat true, but starting out, many things are new to you, so even if they'd suck for a more experienced dev, it's still good stuff build a foundation on.

> Give your boss respect, he may be friendly but he isn't one of your friends, you can joke with him but at the end of the day don't forget that this (wo)man pays your wages and evaluates your work

I've considered lots of my bosses my friends. Give your boss respect if they earn it. If they don't, complain to someone you DO respect or leave. Also: I've had several reviews mention my sense of humor as a positive.

> Slow down at the start

Don't try to impress anybody. Just do your best because why would you do anything else? And if you're slowing down, it's because they're giving you boring work. Talk to your boss or go find better work.

> Always be early, never be late

Your place of work is terrible. They don't trust you. (My hypothesis: they're projecting their own poor work ethic onto you.) I can work 7am-4pm, or 8-5, or 9-6, or whatever. I can come in late whenever and nobody bats an eye, because I am trusted.

> Arrogance is bad.

Sure, of course, so just mind how you speak. Be good-natured and generous in your assessment of others.

> Your boss wants to appear to be an all singing, all dancing super coder and until you have a few more years under your belt, your opinion is largely invalid.

Your place of work is terrible. Nobody should expect you to be a genius, and your opinion does matter. If they respected you, they'd ask your opinion, and constructively criticize your ideas so that you improve.

In case I forgot to mention it: your place of work is terrible. It is not like this everywhere. Don't start feeling trapped, though: feel empowered. You deserve better.

I would add "practice what you preach" to this. Everyone hates the junior developer who says "ugh, this code sucks, it doesn't even have tests." Everyone loves the junior developer who says "ugh, that code didn't even have tests, so I found a seam and added some tests for the new method I added, here's how to run them."